ATLANTA — Here are three things we learned from the Braves' 3-2 loss to the Nationals on Friday, aside from the realization that two singles, two hits batsmen and one wild pitch over one half-inning doesn't always guarantee multiple runs.
More on that later ...
Dating back to April 23, covering 40.1 innings, Teheran is a perfect 7 for 7 in allowing just three runs or less; and in that span, he boasts an impressive ERA of 2.92.
So, why the hyperbole from Friday's performance (three runs, seven hits over 6.2 innings)?
For starters, Teheran notched a career-high nine strikeouts. Secondly, after surrendering a run apiece for the first and second innings, he mowed through the minimum requirement of nine Nats for innings 3-5, posting four strikeouts in that sequence.
Also, since May 9, Teheran has logged a superb strike-to-ball rate of 65 percent or higher for all five outings, suggesting he has finally adapted to the rigors and tempo of pitching in the bigs.
"I thought Teheran pitched a great game," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, acknowledging his young hurler's good work, aside from yielding two triples (and three hits) to Nats leadoff hitter Denard Span. "Three runs, that's a nice outing for him."
Heralded as a top-five prospect entering 2012, Teheran has incurred a few bumps along the way to being Atlanta's No. 5 starter. And with Brandon Beachy (2.00 ERA last year before elbow surgery) primed to return sometime in June, it'll be interesting to see if Teheran, Paul Maholm or even Kris Medlen gets bumped from the rotation, making room for Beachy.
Forget that, prior to Friday night, Heyward had assumed only four career at-bats in the 1-hole, netting one hit.
And ignore how baseball convention suggests — no, screams — that a 6-foot-5, 240-pound specimen should never bat leadoff.
From a numbers standpoint, Heyward is an intriguing option at the top — at least on days when Jordan Schafer resides on the bench.
-- Heyward's strong on-base percentage (.349) trumps the middling marks with batting average (.254 career).
-- He converts on roughly 66 percent of all steals attempts.
-- And of the last two seasons, spanning 188 games, Heyward (110 runs) has a 59-percent chance of scoring on a given day.
Interestingly, Heyward didn't log an at-bat in the crucial seventh inning (vaguely referenced in the opening paragraph), when the Braves (32-22, 4 1/2 games up in the division) loaded the bases with one out and threatened to tie or seize the lead — despite four hits for the night.
But alas, consecutive strikeouts from Dan Uggla (0 for 3) and Chris Johnson (0 for 3) thwarted any attempts for Heyward to play the hero.
"Yeah, we had them on the ropes (in the 7th)," said Gonzalez, who started Heyward in center field in place of the struggling B.J. Upton, who has but 10 hits and one home run in May. "We just couldn't get the (decisive hit). That's how it works sometimes."
In the 9th, Freddie Freeman — who launched a 385-foot homer off Stephen Strasburg earlier — blasted another long fly ball ... that was caught by Washington at the warning track.
"I didn't get it all," admitted Freeman of the second long shot, noting the cavernous power alley in right-center field (380 feet).
The 24-year-old ace may be a lethal weapon for the Nationals and one of baseball's most prominent young studs (along with teammate Bryce Harper), but for whatever reason, things seldom work out for Strasburg when pitching in Atlanta.
Of his last three outings at Turner Field, dating back to last year, Strasburg has endured a grand total of 11 innings.
Last summer (June 30), Strasburg left after three innings, citing dehydration.
On April 29 of this year, he had to answer for Washington manager Davey Johnson's surprise concerns over Strasburg continually shaking his forearm while going six innings against Atlanta — as if it were some precursor to a substantial injury. (Strasburg had Tommy John surgery in 2010.)
And on Friday night, after allowing one run over two innings, an apparent back injury prompted another early exit for Strasburg (lifetime ERA: 2.84), who registered two wins and a 0.96 ERA in his previous four starts.
